Late for Movies
by Strawberry Shortcake123
Summary: When Oliver's family suddenly has to move, Miley and Lily will do whatever it takes to get him back. Moliver!
1. Chapter 1

Who knew two words were so upsetting? I pondered over that question as I stood on the beach, looking out over the water. All through school today, I had looked at the clock and silently counted down the hours until school was over. It was Friday night. That meant movies with Miley and Lilly. I should have been at Miley's house while I stood on the beach, but I couldn't face them.

As if on cue, I heard "Jingle Bells" out of nowhere. It wasn't Christmas, but I had never gotten around to changing the ring tone. The caller ID said that Miley was calling. I sighed and turned on the phone. "Hello?"

"Oliver! Where are you?"

Her normally perky voice was laced with worry. I smiled very slightly at that.

"On the beach."

I heard Miley whisper to Lilly, "He's on the beach." Then she got back on the phone and said, "C'mon, Oliver! Get over here!"

"I'm coming."

I hung up the phone and began walking to Miley's house. She and Lilly would want to know why I was on the beach. I stuffed my hands in my pockets and tried to think about how to tell them. I couldn't think of any way that would make it less painful for them, so I decided to merely say it.

"Dad, the other one's here," Jackson told his father when I walked in.

"Oh, hey, son. You know the girls never last too long watching movies. They've already moved on upstairs." He handed me a bowl of popcorn. "Take that up there. They've probably finished the other one."

I took it. "Thanks, Mr. Stewart."

Giggling could be heard from behind Miley's closed door when I approached. I knocked quietly and Miley was standing in front of me in a second.

"Oliver! Come on, come in! What took you so long?"

"I was pondering."

Lilly and Miley looked at me weird. "Over what?"

"Um…well…"

C'mon, Oliver, I told myself. You've been through this. Just spit it out.

"After I got home from school Mom told me that Dad was transferred to Colorado and so we're moving over there," I told them in one breath.

Seeing my best friends' faces, I knew that things like these couldn't just be spat out as if they were simple.

"When?" Miley's voice cracked, like it only did when she spoke of her mother.

"Next weekend."

"Miley," said Lilly, "Don't worry. We've still got a whole week left with Oliver."

I could tell that she was holding back tears, too.

"Look, guys. I'm really sorry. I wish this didn't happen, but it has to."

Miley plopped down beside me on the bed. Lilly sat on the other side. I rested one hand on each of their knees and said, "C'mon, guys, let's forget about it right now. How about Monopoly?"

But every time I looked at Miley, I felt worse and worse, for her cheeks were shiny and wet. But I could tell she didn't want any comfort, for she quickly bowed her head when she saw me looking at her.


	2. Chapter 2

Lilly and I had stayed over at Miley's that night. We all slept in the living room. Usually, the Stewarts' living room was so comfortable and welcoming to me, but when I bundled up on the floor in my sleeping bag, I couldn't help thinking that it would never again be my turn to host movie night. A week from tonight, it would be Lilly's turn. And I would move the day after that.

I was pretty sure I was the only one awake, laying there, so close to tears. But when I rolled over, a little farther than I intended, I landed on something lumpy. And a little squeak could be heard from under me.

I quickly rolled off of the thing and turned back around to see that it was Miley. From her eyes, it looked like she'd been thinking, too, about me moving.

I couldn't think of anything to say. Should I comfort her or back off? Did she blame me? So I just blurted out something that, in my opinion, could not go wrong. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

I was not being Oliver. Lilly did all the comforting when it came to Miley. I tried, I did, but usually Miley always felt worse after I talked. I realized, right then, that I had never really tried. Never said anything I was thinking, afraid that someone would take it in the wrong way. But right now, Lilly was unavailable and it was up to me.

"You've already lost something great, Miley. Your mom. I'm your best friend. I'm supposed to be here, helping you through it. But I'm being dragged off to Colorado-"  
"I'm desperate, Oliver," she interrupted me. Something about those three words shocked me. _Desperate. _She was desperate. She needed me.

"Lilly's a good friend," she continued, "And very comforting. But nothing she says would work without you. You tie it all up and bring some humor into the situation. I really need you, I'm desperate for people who care about me and vice versa."

Huh. So my comforting wasn't as lousy as Lilly made it out to be. I smiled, again, very slight, at that thought.

There was enough moonlight coming through the screen door to see by. Miley and I siad nothing else, but exchanged one meaningful look, complete with smiles, and lay back down.

Neither Miley nor I spoke of the previous night in the morning. I was doing my best to calm down and enjoy the rest of my week in Malibu. I was very determined not to like anything or anybody in Colorado, and stay in touch with Miley and Lilly as much as possible.

The three of us sat at the Stewart's kitchen table, eating glazed donuts. Miley's house always had donuts hidden away. Boy, I was going to miss them. I normally did not eat glazed donuts, but with Miley and Lilly, I always did. Their mere presense seemed to add something on my taste buds that nothing else could match.

"I love these."

Hey, it was for the sake of us all. I didn't want to launch into another speech about how I didn't want to leave. It would bring the subject back up in Miley and Lilly's minds. And we all knew how that went down. Especially with Miley.

"Yeah, me too."

Miley was silent. It was going to be really hard to get her mind off of this. I made another pathetic attempt.

"Hey, Miley, remember when me and Lilly snuck into your dressing room after the Hannah Montana concert?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Miley asked.

"Well, that was funny, wasn't it?" I asked. Lilly raised her eyebrow at me. It was obvious that I was growing weaker.

"Yup. Hilarious." Miley shoved the last of her donut into her mouth and looked at her lap.

This was not like Miley. Most of the time, she was talking a mile a minute and interupting us whenever we tried to respond to something she said.

"Howdy, kids." Mr. Stewart said. He trooped downsstairs with Jackson. He looked at the three of us- Miley's sad face to Lilly's confused one to my desperate one. "Everything alright here?"

"Daddy, Oliver's moving. To Colorado. A week from today," Miley spoke up.

"Really? Well, Oliver, I'm very sorry to hear that."

"Miley, since he's moving, will you tell him-" Jackson began.

"SHUT UP!" Lilly and Miley shouted. I looked around, bewildered.

"Huh? Tell me what? Is Lilly a popstar, too?"

Miley laughed nervously. She pulled my hand and guided me to the door. "It's not important. Trust me."


	3. Chapter 3

While back at my house that night, I couldn't get my mind off the strange happenings from earlier. I really wanted to know whatever it was they weren't telling me. And I needed to know _now. _Well, if I wanted to sleep, that is.

I turned on my side to read my alarm clock.11:46. Any sensible person would be asleep, or at least in bed, by now. I shouldn't call the Stewarts- Miley's dad isn't real great when he's tired- or Lilly…ha, Lilly. She, herself, is terrible when she wants to sleep.

I flipped over onto my other side. On the floor, beside my dirty sneakers, socks, and…I think it was pizza…was my cell phone. Well, duh, I thought. Call Miley's cell.

Miley must have been trying to sleep. It took four and a half rings for her to pick up and mumble sleepily, "'Lo?"

"Hey, Miley, it's me."

"Oliver." I heard the bed squeak as she sat up. "Why are you calling me at midnight?"

"It's only 11:50. I want to know what you're hiding."

"That I'm Hannah Montana?"

"No, the other thing that Jackson-"

"Oh, that. Oliver, really, you don't want to know. It'll be better for everybody if you didn't," Miley said.

I couldn't say anything to that. Miley was smart; I wasn't. I needed to take her word for it.

"Alright. Night. Bye."

"Bye."

Lilly had an idea.

Lilly always had an idea.

And most of them are dangerous or not thought out right or silly or require things that don't exist.

But this one didn't.

"You're telling me that you're going to sneak into the back of my car and come to Colorado with us?" I asked her.

"Ssh! Not so loud! Jackson's right there!" Lilly pointed back in Rico's. "And Miley's coming, too."

I looked at Miley.

"Uh...I guess I am..."

"Guys, you'll get caught. Then all three of us will be in trouble, and you two shouldn't get in trouble with my parents."

"We don't _care. _And we aren't staying. We're only coming long enough to help you convince your parents to move back to Malibu," Lilly stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh, so you'll show yourselves to my parents? That's just great. Miley, you've got a concert that night, too," I told them.

"Oliver, we'll get in a lot of trouble, but we're willing to accept all that as long as you come back," Miley said quietly.

I sighed. "I guess I can't stop you guys."

"Nope," Lilly exclaimed cheerfully. "You can't."

None of us spoke any more of the plan. For that matter, we didn't speak much at all.

After we finished our shakes at Rico's, we headed down to the beach. Very far down it, hidden by some trees, was "our spot." Nobody ever went there. In fact, we left possessions there as if the spot was our bedroom.

The spot was small and completly enveloped by trees. I never knew how to do area of a circle, but if I had to guess, I'd say that the rea of our space was...fifteen feet? Yeah, but it was plenty comfortable. And it wasn't as if Miley and Lilly's small figures could take up a whole bunch of room.

We usually talked here. We usually chatted and laughed and never once shut up. But today was different. The atmosphere was different. And something was missing.

The rock was gone.

I usually sat down with Miley on a huge rock while Lilly drew in the sand. We had actually named it Rocky Faith after a few weeks. Now, the name was proven true...we couldn't rely on the rock all the time. It was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

Truthfully, I don't remember anything specific about that week. It just flew by. Before I knew what was happening, it was Friday.

Friday. Ugh. That meant that in 24 hours, I would leave everything I needed, everything I _wanted_, behind.The beach, our house, Seaview...and Lilly and Miley. Of course.

Lilly had started to get used to the fact that I was moving, but I was truly worried about Miley. She never ate lunch. She never spoke. She never concentrated in class.

Movie night at Lilly's was canceled that Friday. We didn't even meet after school. The three of us just shuffled to our own homes seperatly to mope. We were going to meet on Saturday, obviously. We'd actually planned that out, I remember. Yes, I was leaving at noon. At 11:30, Lilly and Miley would come over to say goodbye. Then I'd give them their presents. Well, they didn't actually know about that part yet. But soon enough they would.

I got Lilly a picture frame. I know, I know, I should have thought of something better. But, really...at least there was a pictue in it! For Miley...I got her a necklace. Not one of those cheap 25 cent ones, but a real, hundred dollar one. I even paid for it.

To me, Miley is more than a friend. Miley is...she's just everything. I love her. I know, I'm only 14. I shouldn't be saying that. But with her, things just feel...well, _right._

I was hoping that through the necklace, Miley would understand what I meant without my having to explain.

I don't know waht happened to the girls and their 'hop in the back of the car and sneak to Colorado' plan. I guess over the depression of the week, they'd forgotten.

The last thing I saw before sleeping for the last time in my Malibu home was the picture of me and Miley with our arms around each other's shoulders, which sat on my bedside table.

Saturday was painful, I'll tell you that. Miley and Lilly showed up right on time. By then, I had gotten dressed and moved all of my boxes into the moving truck, so I was lounging on my front porch with the wrapped presents beside me.

"Hey, Oliver," Lilly said. I smiled up at them before standing up. Slowly, I held ou tthe package wrapped in blue tissue paper to Lilly. She too it gently and opened it.

"Ah! It's so pretty!" she exclaimed. She took a minute to study the picture and the frame before setting them down and looking at Miley.

I took one look at Miley's face. It was shadowed. I took a deep breath and handed her the small box, wrapped in pink tissue paper. She nodded to show her appreciation before slowly, slowly opening the package. When she saw the box, all she did was star straight at it. Then, when she opened it and pulled ou tthe necklace, she gasped.

"Oh my gosh. Oliver." It was the longest sentence she'd said since last Saturday. "Oh, my gosh...this must have cost a fortune! Thank you so much!"

I looked straight into her eyes. She seemed to love the necklace, but I don't think she realized what I wanted to tell her. Lilly did, though. It was sketched into her face, complete with the classic smirk.

The three of us were at a loss of words. So I guess it was ten minutes that we just stood there, staring at each other. But then, from the truck, I heard Dad call, "Oliver, five minutes."

I blinked back my tears and wrapped my arms around Lilly. She hugged me back.My shoulder was cold. It was either my tears or Lilly's.

Then, after one last rub of Lilly's back, I turned to Miley and began hugging and rocking her. She was _weeping. _Her arms were around my waist as mine were around hers, but she seemed so fragile that I was reluctant to stroke her hair, or cradle her further, or anything else I was tempted to do.

But soon afterwards, _too _soon, I heard Mom say, "Oliver! Let's go!" I would not come. I hugged Lilly and Miley again. My sister, Lea, came to drag me off by the arm. All I remember, after that, was being dragged toward the evil moving truck, which had stolen all of our belongings.

I also remember reminding myself that Miley didn't know how I felt.


	5. Chapter 5

The ride was so tiring. I forget how many hours, but it was a lot. Too many for my liking. I was crammed between Lea and a box. There was a bag at my feet, filled with my most prized possessions that I couldn't bear to put into a moving box in a big truck driven by a couple of strange guys.

There wasn't much in the Wal-Mart sack. My scrapbook, a 100 percent paper (they're rare for me, all right?) and, eh…one of Miley's socks that she left at my house by accident.

So I'm in love. Sue me.

Lea was sleeping. Lea did nothing but sleep. She was ten years old. You'd think she would have outgrown naps a long time ago. But no.

I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and flipped it open. It didn't have text messaging or anything, so I looked through my contacts list. Mom, Dad, Lilly…Miley.

I cackled softly and dialed her number. It rang twice before she answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Miley."

It'd been only four hours since we'd last seen each other, but like me, Miley seemed to think that four hours had been four centuries.

"Oliver!"

I smiled in spite of myself. "Hey, what's up?"

"Ugh, I'm so bored! Lilly has to finish a report…you know, the one that was due three weeks ago? Yeah, she's still doing it."

"So Monday's her deadline?"

"Yup. Oh, Oliver, I wish you were here."

"So do I. You better come visit."

Miley gave a short little laugh at the end of the line. "Yeah, as long as Dad lets me. But I have to go get ready for a concert now."

"Oh." I was disappointed to let her go so fast. "Alright, have a good one."

"Thanks, Oliver. See you."

That was the last time I heard her voice before she hung up. Concert...it probably went until, oh, maybe when I was sleeping on a mattress on the floor. I groaned and slammed my head back against the seat.

"Oliver, honey, what's the matter?" Mom asked. She turned around, looking worried.

Mom is, basically, a taller version of Lea. They both have green eyes. They both have waist length blonde hair and are thin and tall. Mom sleeps alot, too,and when she's awake, she cooks with Lea.

"Nothing. Are we there yet?"

Mom looked out at the highway. "Eh, about another hour. Hang in there."

I groaned again. Nobody had talked most of the trip, and that's how it was now. But I thought I heard something behind me.

I glanced into the back of the van. Nothing was there.

But then, someone sneezed.

I looked to my left. Lea was sleeping. People don't normally sneeze in their sleep. I looked at the front seat. Mom was trying to figure out who sneezed, and Dad didn't look like he had just sneezed...he wasn't covering his mouth or anything.

"Was that you, Oliver?" Mom asked.

"No."

I suddenly remembered something. With a sharp intake of air, I spun around in my seat. As I peered into the back, I saw a suitcase move. With a quick glance at Mom, I unbuckled and dove into the back.

I hoped I wasn't about to uncover a convicted murderer or wild animal, but I really wanted to know why that suitcase was moving. So I chewed the inside of my cheek and, prepared to launch myself away, pulled the suitcase to the side.

"What the heck are you doing here?" I whispered.

Lilly giggled. "Did Miley tell you the story about the history report?"

"Does she know about this?"

"Heck, no! She believes that story, too. I finished it the night before it was due."

Ilooked at my parents. "Lilly, There's no way we can keep you hidden."

"That's what I thuoght. But then, I saw this."

I looked in the direction Lilly's finger was pointing. All I saw was a suitcase.

"It's just a suitcase," I told her.

"Yes, but it's _your _suitcase. And it's just my size." Lilly grinned and rubbed her hands together.

I just rocked back on my heels and stared blankly at her. It was hard enough to carry the suitcase with clothes in it...now I had to carry _her_?

She seemed to read my mind. "It's that or revealing myself to your mom."

I overlaped my top lip with my bottom lip and pulled it down. "How much do you weigh?" I asked.

"70."

70...that's not bad. I'd rather be lifting a book, but 70 isn't too bad.

"Fine."

"Oliver?"

I got on my knees and held onto the back of the seats while I peered over them. "Just checking my suitcase, Mom."

"Well, hurry it up. That's dangerous."

I nodded and ducked back down. I grabbed my suitcase by the wheel and heaved it over to where Lilly and I were. I quickly unzipped it and cleared a spot in my clothes, then motioned for Lilly to get in. She crawled in and grunted.We could barely get her in there, but after she pulled her knees to her chest and draped her arms over them, she was uncomfortable but fine.

"I'll leave a little part unzipped for you to breathe out of," I whispered as quietly as possible. She nodded, and I zipped the suitcase almost closed.


	6. Chapter 6

I'll never understand how I managed to get my suitcase out of that van and upstairs without breaking my flipping back. By the time I plunked that suitcase on the floor of my new bedroom, I thought I'd never walk again.

After groaning and collapsing onto the floor of the large room, I had to be reminded to let Lilly out of the suitcase. She began whispering my name, and then, when she thought I wasn't listening, she kicked the top and sides of the suitcase, yelling, "Oliver! Oliver, let me out, I can't breathe! OLIVER!"

I then hurriedly unzipped the suitcase and helped her out of it. She smoothed out her rumbled clothes and shook back her hair. "My _gosh, _does your faimily do anything in the car?"

"Not really. Lea sleeps, Mom sleeps some, Dad drives, and I...just sit there and think."

"Yeah, I figured that. My car's louder than that."

"And I know that from personal experience. Where are you supposed to sleep tonight?"

"In the suitcase. But we won't zip it," Lilly said. She looked around. "Wow, nice place you got he..."

My cell phone rang. I pulled it out and looked at the Caller ID.

"It's _Miley_," I said quietly. I exchanged a look with Lilly.

"She has a concert," Lilly said.

The phone rang again. I clicked my tongue and turned it on. "Hello?"

"Oliver! Lilly's there, isn't she? Her mom said she's not at home!"

"Er...yeah, she is. Hey, aren't you supposed to be at your concert?"

"I'm in my dressing room. There's a guitar solo. Let me talk to Lilly."

I was puzzled. Miley sounded really urgent. But instead of questioning her, I handed the phone to Lilly.

"Hello?"

Right when Miley started talking, Lilly held the phone real far from her ear. I could hear what Miley was saying and just had to snicker.

"Lilly, you scared your mom to death! What am I supposed to tell her, you snuck into the back of Oliver's van? I was worried, too! And she called my cell in the middle of a concert! Do you know you left your cell phone at home? Yeah, she thinks you were kidnapped! Oliver, stop LAUGHING!"

"Just tell her I'm fine, Miley. Tell her...I'm at at the beach and I'm going to spend ther night with you."

Miley talked normal again, and I waited quietly until Lilly slowly turned off the phone. "That was weird. And really out of character for Miley."

"Oliver?"

It was Lea. She was pounding on my door. Lilly flew open the closet door and ducked inside. I slammed it shut and opened the other door for Lea.

"Yeah?"

"We're going to McDonald's. C'mon."

"Ok, I'll be down in a minute. Uh...yeah, you can go on."

Lea turned and ran downstairs. I walked to the other side of my plain,.white, empty room and put my head up against the closet door. "We're going to McDonald's. I'll bring you something."

Colorado was different from California in every way except one: there were three McDonald's in two miles. Maybe even more than that. It's not like you can go _anywhere _in America without running into a McDonald's, but I found no comfort in the fact that the only thing that connected Denver and Malibu was a fast food place.

The food was just as gross. Did you know that the hamburgers aren't even _meat_? And I don't know what's in the nuggets. I did buy Lilly a burger, because for some odd, stupid reason, she loves them. I just got me an ice cream cone.

But then, my worst nightmare became a reality while we were eating our dump truck food.

"Oliver, who were you talking to?" Lea asked.

My spoon stopped halfway to my mouth. All eyes were on me. What could I say?

"Uh...I never talked to anybody."

"Yes, you were. I heard you. I was standing outside your door a few minutes before I told you we were going out to eat."

Ok, I thought, first, eating at McDonalds is not going out to eat. It's having nothing better to do. and second, what kind of person stands outside their brother's room and listens to what he's saying?

"Oh, that," I said, playing it cool and grinning. I actually managed to smile. The vanilla ice cream along my lips curved upward. "Yeah, I talk to myself."

"There was a voice," Lea said matter-of-factly.

"Oh...you could hear that? Wow. That was Miley. She likes to yell. I was talking to her on my cell phone."

My parents still looked kind of suspicious, and I could tell right away that I hadn't convinced Lea of anything. But I had said enough to shut her up.

After insisting that I needed a burger to eat in the night, I managed to get home with the Mighty Kids Meal home without being questioned further.

Lilly had dug my GameBoy out of my suitcase and was laying on the ground, playing with it, when I got home. I looked for Lea, then shut the door quickly, and tossed her the hamburger.

"Ok, you owe me. I carried that all the way home.That was the worst thing I've ever done for anyone."

"C'mon, Oliver, it's just fast food," Lilly said. She turned off the video game and looked for her hamburger under all the french fries, which were falling out of their thin little pouch.

I walked over to the window while she ate. From my room, I had a fantastic view of the setting sun. The view was better here than in the beach back in Malibu.Score one for Denver.

But although the view was better, the sunset could never be prettier than it had been in Malibu. Because, in Malibu, me and Miley met on the beach every night at seven (earlier in the winter) and horsed around until the sun was ready to set. Then we would sit there, silent, watching the beauty of it all. Miley, sitting there next to me, head tilted, and eyes shining, made that sunset the prettiest is could possibly be.

Something cold was resting on my cheek. Oh, gosh, not that, I thought. I reached up to wipe off my cheek and then looked at my hand. But it was that.

I was crying.

Me, a boy of fourteen, was still crying like some baby. and Lilly was sitting right there.

To make things worse, three more droplets trickled down my face. I sniffed.

"Oliver?"

Great. Now she'd noticed.

I heard footsteps behind me. She was approaching. She was going to make me talk. She was going to see me crying.

I put my head down and closed my eyes, but the tears found their way under my eyelids. There was soft pushing against my shoulder. Lilly had joined me at the window. I dared to look up. Her eyes were clouded as she looked out there, as well.

"You're thinking about the sunsets with Miley, aren't you?" she asked me quietly.

I was shocked. We'd never told Lilly about that. We thought it was better not to. We had an _agreement._

"How do you know?" I asked her.

"Eh...some people at school saw some things."

I felt my face go red hot.

"I was mad, at first. I mean, how could I not be? My two best friends were going to look at _sunsets _alone. But, it didn't take me too long to realize...you guys are just meant to be."

I was quiet. but I knew that my eyes were revealing. My eyes were always revealing. Too revealing.

"Oliver, I know you like Miley. You don't even have to say anything. But...what Jackson was talking about...about telling you something...what she didn't want you to know..."

"I know what you're talking about," I assured her.

"Ok...Miley'll probably strangle me for this...but she likes you too. Alot."


	7. Chapter 7

I was quiet. On the outside, I was doing everything in my power to keep calm about what I'd just heard, but buzzing around in my small brain were all different kinds of thoughts.

"She was convinced she loved you," Lilly went on. I'll bet she could tell what was going on in my head. She's like that.

"But she was afraid of having her heart broken. She didn't want to take any chances. You know she never takes off that necklace you gave her?"

"Really?" It made me feel good, but only a little. Very deep down, there was one little slit of something happy.

"Yeah. Every time I look over there, she's not concentrating on her work or anything, just staring at the necklace and touching it."

Wow. Miley was starting to sound as pathetic as me.

"Lilly? Do you believe in soul mates?"

Lilly didn't answer or make any indication that she'd heard me, so I began to repeat myself, but then she spoke up. "I didn't used to, but if there ever were two people destined to be together, it's you and Miley."

I placed my chin in my cupped hands and looked out at the sunset again. Hidden in that red sun, there were images of Miley…memories…

"I think certain things happened so that the two of you could find each other…the fact that you lived in California, and then Miley became Hannah Montana, so she had to move to California…"

"But now fate is separating us," I said abruptly.

Lilly turned around and placed her hands on the window sill, then leaned back on it. I stood straight up and looked at her questionably.

"I doubt it will be for very long."

The next day, Lily and I escaped out to the park. It was fun, really. The park was very similiar to the one in downtown Malibu. We played a couple of the smae games we had made up to play there, but many we could not play because they required three people.

By the time we setted back out for the bare house, the sun was setting. Again, I got all quiet and bowed my head. I almost walked out into a busy street because I wasn't watching where I was going, but Lilly caught my arm and pulled me back.

When we reached home, I went inside first. I peeked around the room, then beckoned for Lilly to come in after me. But when I set my foot on the stair, I realized that somebody had come out from behind the corner.

"Lilly?"

"Uh...oh, hi, Mrs. Oken," Lilly stuttered, glancing nervously at me.

Mom bit her bottom lip, raised an eyebrow, crossed her arms, and looked at us, puzzled. "How did you get here, Lilly?"

"Oh...well...my dad got transfered, too, you see, and..."

"Lilly," I interupted suddenly, "Stop.

She looked oddly at me. I came down from the steps and stodd beside Lilly.

"Mom...I really want to go back home. I just can't get along fine here without Miley and Lilly. I just can't."

Lilly had her hands clasped, probably in prayer, since her head was bowed. Mom seemed to be expecting more from me.

"And...and...California is better for all of us. We left everything we need behind. I mean, everything we need to be happy. Please, Mom. I've been restless since I found out, and unless you want me to be sitting here crying for the rest of my life..."

"Oh, honey!" Mom walked over and hugged me. "I know what you're saying. Your father and I seriously considered all that before moving. We just figured you'd make more friends at your school."

"No, I wouldn't! The only friends I want are Miley and Lilly. Can nobody see that?"

"Mrs. Oken," Lilly said; her head was up, straight and tall. Her fingers were slightly intwined but held in front of her. "Oliver needs Miley more than anybody. She needs him, too. Both of them have been in total despair since Oliver moved. I want them to be hyper and funny like they used to be, not down in the dumps. But for that to happen, Oliver has got to move back to Malibu."

Oh, geez. Tears were stinging Mom's eyes. She hugged me again. "Oh, sweetie, I didn't think you'd found your soulmate yet. I'm so sorry."

I twisted away, embaressed. As if on cue, my father came in that moment. He didn't look happy; his eyes were exasperated and the corners of his mouth were curving downward.

"Dave, what's wrong?" Mom asked him. She took his breifcase and jacket.

"Ap- Lilly?"

"We'll explain in a minute," I quickly covered. "What's the matter, Dad?"

"There's been a mistake. Apparently, there's two men named Dave Oken in the buisness, and they contacted the wrong one." He let out a long, deep breath. "We'll have to go back to Cali-"

"YES!"

Lilly and I pumped our fists into the air and hollered. Neither of us had grinned that much since...before last Friday, all I know. Yeah, this was good.

"Oh, dear. Let me go call the company, to inform them we won't be paying rent."

Mom ran off. Dad turned on me and Lilly. "Now, Lilly, how did you get here?"

"Well," I said, "If you want it from the beginning..."


	8. Chapter 8

After Mom sorted things out with the real estate company, and everything that had been unpacked was back in the boxes, we began the long ride home. It was easier this time because I didn't have to hide Lilly in a suitcase, and she could sneeze without worrying about it.

I was experiencing the same thing twice. Lea slept, Mom occasionally slept, Lilly never shut up. I smiled to myself. Old Lilly was returning. Things would be back to normal in no time.

Mom had gotten us our house back- luvkily, nobody had bought it yet. It looked the same as always when we pulled into the driveway- Mom's rose bushes, Lea's tire swing, the chalk drawings by me and Miley and Lilly.

Speaking of Miley, she didn't know I was coming home. I had seriously considered calling her to tell her, but decided against it. I wanted to show up at her door and suprise her.

So after I helped take boxes out of the van and furniture out of the trailer, which we had bought since the moving truck guys had already driven back to Malibu, Lilly and I ran fast to Miley's.

I had only been gone four days, but when I came into view of Miley's house, it was as if I was getting my first lok at it in a long, long, long time.

My heart was already thudding, but I sprinted ahead of Lilly anyway, ignoring the ache in my legs, ignoring my heart pounding furiously against my chest.

Lilly was chugging along behind when I reached the door. I took a deep breath, then pressed my index finger into the doorbell, holding it there a few seconds.

I hoped it would be Miley who opened the door. And it was.

For a moment, she stared at me, eyes wide, shocked. Iput on huge grin, siad "Hey." and held my arms out.

Ah, that was such a joyful moment. Miley ran into my arms, clasped her hands around my neck, and buried her head into my shoulder. She let me rock her back and forth. I smoothed her hair and listened to her quiet giggling in my left ear.

Once we pulled back, we still held our ahnds together. Miley's ahdns were soft against my rough ones. I ran my thumb over her palm and choked back the happy tears.

Lilly came running up. I grinned and wrapped one arm around her shoulders, the other arm around Miley's. We just stood there, the threesome once again. Movie night was at my house on Friday. I was going back to Seaview tomorrow, Wednesday. Everything was back to normal.

That night, after skipping a week and a half of these, Miley and I went down to the beach to watch the sunset. No horsing around that night. We just lay out the blanket and sat side by side.

The sun was huge, half hidden by the horizon. Little streaks of red and orange and pink shot out from the sun like lasers, surrounding it, adding all the more beauty.

And then, of course, Miley was making my night complete. She sat quietly, in a casual outfit of jean shorts and a blue T-shirt and pigtails, but her mere presense put a feeling inside of me, a feeling so big and strong that it could not be ignored.

I bit my bottom lip and looked over at Miley. I was afraid to do what wanted to do, but then I remembered what Lilly had said.

_"...she likes you, too. Alot."_

I scooted closer to Miley and slowly, hesitantly, put my arm around her shoulders. She looked at me and smiled a little before scooting even closer.

Now our sides were touching. Miley leaned on me, her head on my shoulder. I let her stay that way, enjoying every minute of it. I lay my head on top of hers, and leaned back into her.

We'd never gotten this close on a sunset night. The closestto this was when I gave Miley a hug and we stayed that way for ten minutes, and that was three months ago, on her mother's birthday.

I let my free hand glide over Miley's lap to grasp her left hand. We laced our fingers together and stared at the sunset, straight ahead.

Suddenly, Miley broke our long silence. "I'm really glad you came back."

I squeezed her hand. "Me too."

I felt eyes boring into me. It was Miley. She had raised her head from my shoulder and sat looking at me, eyes wide and sort of watery, lips not frowning or smiling but slightly parted.

I understood what was supposed to happen. I understood what was _going _to happen, right then, at that very moment.

I slid my arm down to Miley's waist. Our hands pulled away from each other. My left hand met my right hand, and Miley's two hands joined when they encircled my neck.

I sealed the distance between the two of us by placing my lips on Miley's. lips on Miley's. It was great. Not real passionate; we weren't ready for that yet, but I filled my kiss with as much love, sweetness and caring as Miley was giving me. I let my right hand stroke her hair, from top to bottom, while my left remained on her waist and pulled her closer.

We broke apart, and then, solid proof that we were doing what fate intended for us, we uttered the same sentence at the same time.

"I love you."

A/N: Well, that's done! I thouroughly enjoyed writing that last cheesy part there, haha. I hope everybody else enjoyed it. This story is done. Read and review, please! Oh, by the way,sorry for rushing it along.


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